On April 1, the Rock Garden reopens for the season after an extensive, winter-long restoration of its historic features! Visitors will be able to admire water running down the cascade and into the pond for the first time in years. After remaining dry for so long, the stream is now active again, as well as more water efficient.
The soft bubbling of the stream accompanied by the wind rustling the branches has defined the tranquility of the Rock Garden since its establishment in the 1930s. Originally a project of the Depression-era Works Progress Administration, the Rock Garden was showing its age and was in great need of restoration. Head through for a sneak peak at the final product before tomorrow’s debut!
It’s almost the weekend, and that means more exciting events and activities in store with The Orchid Show: Key West Contemporary! Saturday is another Orchid Evening, and with tickets still available you should think about booking soon—they’re going fast.
Ayesha Adamo will be our DJ for this week’s party, backed by a signature cocktail known as the Four Roses Cooler. A refreshing yet warm blend of bourbon, grapefruit, honey and lemon, this one’s not to be missed. We are also mixing things up at our Orchid Demonstrations, covering Orchid Tips for Amateurs in the GreenSchool of the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory.
Head below to check out the rest of this weekend’s activities, both indoors and out!
Spring at the Garden is full of festivals! Beautiful scenery, delicious refreshments, and activities for all ages are the perfect way to spend a spring weekend. From daffodil season to tulip season and beyond, we have plenty of activities over the next three months to help make the most of the grounds as their brilliant colors return.
Our popular Culinary Kids Food Festival returns April 14 with a week-long, family-friendly food festival celebrating the relationships among plants, farms, and your favorite treats. Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden staff and the culinary team, Growing Chefs, will offer cooking demonstrations, recipes, and hands-on activities—with plenty of music and food tastings to add to the fun. Kids can fill up their Festival passports as they tinker with the science of kitchen chemistry and get to the root of foods at a variety of activity stations with themes like “The Chicken and the Egg” and “The Buzz on Bees Sweet Bees!” The daily 1 p.m. cooking demonstration will feature kid-friendly recipes and tasty samples, while local chefs will share tips and more.
But that is only the first in a full season of outdoor adventure. Read on for May and June’s exciting upcoming festivals!
With such wild changes in temperature, this year’s crop of early spring blooms is a hearty bunch indeed. The Garden party is already getting started in the Jane Watson Irwin Perennial Garden, whose enthusiastic residents are always some of the first to rise from their slumber.
The vibrant ‘Arnold Promise’ witch-hazel (Hamamelis × intermedia) is blooming alongside the snowdrops (Galanthus) and winter aconite (Eranthis hyemalis). The Ladies’ Border is also lovely at the moment, with Amur adonis (Adonis amurensis) in bloom and both the paper bush flowers (Edgeworthia chrysantha) and viburnum (Viburnum × bodnantense ‘Dawn’) in bud.
For serene shades of white and violet, stop by Wamsler Rock to see more snowdrops alongside the early crocus (Crocus tommasinianus). Click through for some gorgeous close-ups of those intrepid blooms that herald the long-awaited spring!
Spring has sprung, and this weekend we are debuting new tours dedicated to exploring early spring at the Garden! More and more green shoots are sprouting each day and we have a beautiful, sunny weekend in store with plenty of programs to take advantage of it.
Good morning, Mourning Dove! The call of these songbirds is unmistakable to New Yorkers. How many of you have been woken up by this little guy perched outside your window? Beats a beeping alarm clock, I suppose.
This Thursday, March 20, is the exciting culmination of our 14th Annual Winter Lecture Series. Our final speaker will be Thomas Rainer, an accomplished landscape architect who teaches planting design for the George Washington University Landscape Design program. He has worked on projects such as the U.S. Capitol grounds, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial, and The New York Botanical Garden, but he is happiest puttering in his small garden at home in Washington, D.C.
It’s true, Thomas Rainer isn’t crossing any oceans to visit the Garden as our previous two speakers did, but professional and amateur gardeners will relate to Rainer’s personal journey. On Grounded Design, his award–winning blog, Rainer charts his process of discovery towards ever-better planting designs and methods. Click through to see his impressive designs.
The crocus is a real early bird, one of the first to bloom when winter is at its end. Paired with the snowdrops we have already seen, it’s a good sign.
Crocus in the Seasonal Walk – Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
On April 1, the Rock Garden reopens for the season after an extensive, winter-long restoration of its historic features! Visitors will be able to admire water running down the cascade and into the pond for the first time in years. After remaining dry for so long, the stream is now active again, as well as more water efficient.
